In the "Ask Linda" columns I answer questions from readers who are uncertain how to proceed correctly under the Rules of Golf. No names are used – all questioners are referred to as Lulu (or Lou, in the case of male writers), in honor of the smart and sassy comic character.
Please send questions from your personal golf experiences to: llmillergolf@gmail.com.

Friday, October 9, 2015

Ask Linda #1166-Fallen branch in bunker

Dear Linda,

Please help me with this.

In a two-day competition, I had the first tee time on the
second day. A heavy storm had passed during the night, trees had fallen.
Neither the committee nor the greenkeeper have had time to clear up the course.
A big branch from a nearby tree had fallen into a bunker. My ball came to rest
under this branch, in the bunker. The ball was unplayable. Under these
circumstances, am I allowed to take a free drop in the bunker, away from the branch
but not nearer to the hole? By doing so referring to rule 1-4??

Thanks a lot for your blog and all the work you put into it.

Very best regards

Lou from Spain

Dear Lou,

A big branch lying in a bunker is a loose impediment, Lou.
There is no getting around that fact. You know, of course, that you are not
permitted to touch or move a loose impediment in a bunker.

Ordinarily, you are not entitled to free relief from a large
branch that has fallen into a bunker after a storm. Neither storms nor fallen
branches are unusual occurrences on a golf course. If your ball is unplayable,
you may choose one of the relief options in Rule 28, all of which will add a
one-stroke penalty to your score.

However, there is a possibility you may be entitled to free
relief. If the Committee plans to have the branch removed during the course of
the tournament, it may declare the branch to be ground under repair (“material
piled for removal”). In that case, you would be entitled to a free drop in the
bunker, no closer to the hole. If the Committee has not yet addressed the
problem, you may play two balls under Rule 3-3 and check with the Committee
before signing your scorecard regarding whether you were entitled to free
relief.